2013 will kick off with the second season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil. This morning, the media got a chance to speak with the two men that will try to take a group of fighters and turn them into the next big thing in the UFC. This upcoming season will see heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira and Fabricio “Vai Cavalo” Werdum pick teams of welterweight fighters. Nogueira and Werdum both are extremely honored to coach these men in their home country of Brazil. They are hoping for a good healthy war to take place in the house but also want to set the foundation of good diets and training techniques to their teams.
The rematch between these two coaches will take place at the conclusion of the season. The first time they met was back in Pride in 2006. Nogueira walked out that night as the winner by unanimous decision. There has been a lot of change and experience gained for both of these men since than. Werdum, who was almost solely a jiu-jitsu practitioner at that time, has developed a devastating set of striking skills. In his last fight he stopped Mike Russow with punches in the first round and the fight before he absolutely pounded Roy Nelson. The hard chinned Big Country was able to make it the distance but had little to offer other than being able to take a punch.
Nogueira submitted Dave Herman last month in Brazil in his first return to action since suffering a horrific broken arm at the hands of Frank Mir. Nogueira had a plate put in and 16 screws in his upper arm felt that his last fight with Herman was a great confidence builder to show him he still can compete and wants to get back to the top of the division.
While both fighters would love to hold the UFC Heavyweight belt Nogueira has made it clear over and over that he will not fight Junior Dos Santos. JDS has been training with the Nogueira’s since he was a blue belt and is considered family. Werdum had one run in with JDS already back at UFC 90 and was stopped by the current champ by punches in the first round. Werdum than went to fight for Strikeforce before returning to the UFC.
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